Juntura, Oregon

Most nights we stay in towns across America I’ve never heard of that have populations of under 10,000. Each morning, a different rider presents a few facts about our destination for the day. While eating breakfast in Ontario this morning, Curtis (Poncho) presented about Juntura, Oregon. He said that Juntura is not recognized by the U.S. census as a town, and has a population of just 38. So Bike & Build is practically doubling Juntura’s population by spending the night here. There’s just a diner that’s connected to a motel/RV park, and an elementary school. One local said there’s no other work around here but cattle ranching.

Today’s ride into Juntura was one of my favorites. The ratio of work to reward was satisfying  - there’s nothing worse than not getting to descend after lots of climbing. We were on one stretch of road for almost 70 miles through a mountainous desert, so the landscape was constantly changing. The route was not going over a mountain pass; instead, we carved and swerved alongside the mountains, creating a road of steady rolling hills and gentle turns. The strong headwind didn’t bother me, it was challenging, but with over 3,000 miles under my belt and I saw three deer in a crops field.

Juntura is awesome. There’s a K-8 school, and the nearest high school is a three hour drive, so many teens are homeschooled. That’s what Hayley told me, and she’s a sophomore in high school. While dinner was being made, Hayley showed me how “to rope” which is a big hobby here. She’s a cowgirl.